I watched “Bones” for probably the first time after “House” tonight and the premise of it was a priest and altar boy coming upon a fire on the altar in which something resembling a demon or devil was being immolated. I didn’t much care for the show in general — it wasn’t as good as “CSI” or “Law & Order”, mostly because the plot kind of wrapped up in the last 30 seconds in a really weird slapdash way.

It was,however, an interesting show in that you saw the views on the existence of evil from various characters including a Catholic, a Muslim, and Temperance (Bones) herself who has an atheist/scientific view point. I’m not totally a fan of how religious issues are portrayed on TV because the writers seldom “get it right”. (Please spare me the lecture about how “TV is not an indication of reality”. I’m fully aware that show like “CSI” and “House” are fictitious.) It was definitely fascinating to see how each character’s perception of evil influenced the way they reacted to the situation from the Catholic repeatedly genuflecting when they were in the church to the Muslim (Vazari?) talking about the difference between angels and demons in Islam. It appealed to the religious scholar in me and the interest I have in comparative religion.

It also begs the question for me of how I perceive evil in the world. I’m not sure that I believe in a corporeal devil or that demons have bodies. Nevertheless, I do believe that evil exists and that there is an evil force (Satan or “the Great Adversary”) acting in the world. Why else do we have war, hatred, violence, etc? I want to believe that good always triumphs but I also (in an Arminian way) believe that a lot of what happens that is evil is the consequence of our actions and our lack of consideration of others which is part of our inate selfishness as fallen people. Good can only do so much in those cases and it takes a whole lot of good to overcome so much evil.

As for why earthquakes and natural disasters happening, I want to say God is in control and I have to believe it. It is however hard to explain so much death and suffering other to say that much of it stems from poverty caused by capitalism and our annoying habit of valuing our personal wealth over the needs of others. (Example: Joel Osteen and all the other “mega-church” pastors could probably sell their massive properties and donate the money to feed the poor and rebuild Haiti instead of building bigger barns and buildings for themselves. *stepping off my soapbox*) I heard recently that only 10% of the aid pledged to Haiti has actually come through, which is really saddening to me as a Christian because I believe that we do have a duty to help our brothers and sisters (i.e. FULFILLING OUR FREAKING PLEDGES OF AID) instead of welching on our pledge.

What do you think, y’all?